FRED WILPON IS THE DEVIL!!!!!

well, here's a clever idea from some red sox fans. let's create a website and ask fans to donate money so we can raise $1m to buy the WS ball from doug and jodi mientkiewicz (i'm still in dire need of practice on that name). they're actually begging for money on ebay too.

so far, they've accumulated $12.14. that's an impressive start, but let's see them get to $84.39 in a month or so before it starts to intrigue the mienkys.

from espn:

Mientkiewicz said Boston asked to have it for one year, he intends to comply and the sides expect to reach an agreement within days. He caught the ball when it was thrown to him by pitcher Keith Foulke in St. Louis on Oct. 27.

"There was never a fight, there was never words exchanged. It was very cordial, and we worked something out," he said. "I want the fans to see it, and that's what both the Red Sox and I agreed on. They waited a long time to see that ball and to live it. The fact that I had it was just so we could keep it and give it to the fans and let them see it."

Mientkiewicz said he will not receive any money under the deal and "probably" would get the ball back after a year. He emphasized that he's "doing everything they asked me to do."

"I didn't expect all of this with the ball," he added. "Sometimes in life you think you're doing the right thing and it doesn't turn out that way. That's kind of what happened here. I didn't think it was going to come out to this. Like I said, I gave Derek Lowe the Game 7 ball from the ALCS, and no one seems to want that one."

He already knows what he would do if the Mets come within three outs of a World Series title.

"I'll probably ask before the ninth inning: `What do you guys want me to do with this?' he said.


well that's good to hear. no need for mienky to bring that moronic ball controversy over here to team feelgood.

shit, i tell you what. if i was mientkiewicz... damn, if i was mientkiewicz, first thing i'd do is change my last name to smith. secondly, i'd offer that damn ball to upper deck, topps, fleer, donruss and whatever card companies there are. those companies would go nuts in a blind bid for the ball, just to slice it up and put it in commemorative boston red sox world championship cards individually numbered cards 1-86. they could build their entire 2005 second series card set around these randomly inserted cards or they could just friggin sell them straight to moronic red sox fans. maybe some yankees fan buys all of them for $2m just so he can burn them.

the mientkiewicz deal has been finalized, and the A ball prospect shipped out is ian "E" bladergroen who tore apart low A capital city last year before tearing up his wrist and missing the last 3 months of the season. if he wasn't injured, he definitely would've spent some quality time at st lucie before the year was up, though he'd return to capital city (like lastings milledge did) for the playoffs.

bladergroen had brett harper one level ahead of him, and craig brazell a couple steps above, but even with his injury, he was probably the top ranked 1B in the system. of course, getting a fulltime major league 1B in mienky puts a ceiling on everyone. mienky is signed through this year with a team option for 2006. brazell is stuck at AAA or gone. brett harper will get his first full year at AA binghamton.

operation plan B is in motion.

who's on first: doug mientkiewicz. can you spell his name? neither can i. but i'm sure i'll be getting a ton of opportunities to practice this year, so i should be able to nail it down soon.

so what about doug mientkiewicz? espn.com is saying the mets are giving up an A ball minor leaguer (or more precisely, somebody who played in A ball last year) + cash. that might be a costly minor leaguer. let's see. lastings milledge played in A ball last year. so did yusmeiro petit. are they untouchable? who knows? what about ian bladergroen, shawn bowman, matt lindstrom, brett harper, and aarom baldiris? we shall see.

so what's the deal with mientkiewicz? well, he's got a world series ball retirement fund. aside from that he's a 30 year old gold glove defensive wizard at 1B. the mets haven't had a stellar glove man over there since oly flew the coop after 1999. offensively, he's not a stud, but he's an above average obp guy with line drive gap power and a propensity for the clutch hit. he's also been a consistent winner in college, the olympics and with the twins/red sox. whatever carlos delgado would've given us offensively, mientkiewicz is that awesome with the glove. he'll hold his own with the stick, too. not a cleanup slugger, but he'll be a solid guy wherever he is in the lineup. he's also a noted gung-ho, hard nose, rah-rah teammate kind of guy which the mets have been sorely lacking.

delgado d-day finally arrived this afternoon as the florida marlins del-got-the-bastard. the mets and orioles supposedly had the same 4 years/$52m on the table, but florida resident david sloane finally convinced his main client to sign with the local team.

it's not only a tough loss for the mets, but a monster gain for the division rival marlins who now sport a nicely stacked lineup in their attempt to regain their world championship from two years ago.

what do the mets do now? god knows. mets suck at b-plans. they usually suck at a-plans too, but this winter's been fun so far. anytime freddie flashes his wallet is fun. it's frightening, but it's fun. the failure to secure delgado is a big disappointment, but there is solace in knowing that freddie was willing to go way bonkers and there's still time to do so.

the carlos delgado saga will continue into mets caravan tuesday with the mets, marlins and orioles in tow. david sloane is making quite the name for himself as the pied piping agent for delgado as he stretches this for all its worth. apparently, sloane is using the war of attrition, fear factor, last man standing strategy as he runs the remaining suitors through the paces.

according to the venerable gray lady, the orioles current offer tops all at $51M for 4 years. the mets matched the old rangers $48M offer and may have raised it up to $50M. the tax-free marlins are in the $48M neighborhood, as well. so it's basically a wash, money-wise and years-wise.

sloane will get another round of discussions with everybody tuesday and lord knows what happens after that.

rod serling couldn't write a more bizarre chapter in the mets hot stove season.

it was embarrassing and certainly idiotic, but the mets put out their "deadline" bluff last night. david sloane, agent for carlos delgado, didn't blink and the mets nearly shot themselves in the foot. seems the consensus account now is that the mets have groveled and apologized and backtracked sufficiently enough to earn a "do over." so, we're still down to florida, baltimore and the mets.

when's D-day? maybe tonight. it's time for the marlins and orioles to do something stupid. that's only fair.

everything's pretty fucked up right now as different reports are all saying different things. one thing for sure, delgado isn't signed right now. as i said, texas was going way out on the limb with their "take it or leave it" deadline this weekend. seems delgado wasn't biting (and why should he with 3 other very interested suitors still willing to play ball?), so:

report #1: the star-telegram is saying the rangers have dropped out.

on the other hand, there's:

report #2: espn is saying both the rangers and the mets are out of it. the rangers are out since they couldn't entice delgado to be a fulltime DH. the mets are out of it for no apparent reason.

finally, on the 3rd hand, we have:

report #3: the nytimes reports it's the rangers and the orioles out of the picture.

so basically, all anyone and everyone can agree upon is yesterday's frontrunning rangers are tonight's losers, leaving the marlins and mets or marlins and orioles.

thank god we live in the wired information age where we can get all this shit so quickly. it makes things so much clearer.

and down the stretch they come!

minayacal omar has thrown the mets hat in the 4 year offer ring along with the rangers, marlins and orioles. the texas offer is reported as 4 years/$48m. everyone else has basically matched it or come close enough. so basically, without their usual ace up their sleeve (blowing away everyone with an extra year and more cash) how will the mets fare?

texas has a few things going for them: they're in the AL, they have a hitter's park with a nice lineup to plug delgado in the middle, they're a hot climate with a big latino population, they're an income tax-free state, they won 89 games last year and have manager of the year, buck showalter, firmly at the helm with the same young offense returning intact, and they've been upclose, personal and aggressive in their courting process.

on the downside, they have mark teixeira at 1B, which may or may not make delgado a DH more times than he wants, and texas has imposed a "take it or leave it" deadline which may backfire now that he has 3 other teams willing to also play the bidding game.

the marlins also have a competitive, young team, income tax-free status, warm climate close to PR with huge latino population. they are in the NL and have stayed aggressive in this process by having the largest offer out there for most of the time, and promptly upping it when the rangers pushed the envelope.

the downside of florida is the shaky financial position of the team. they're a threat to leave miami. they're a threat to have a firesale. who knows?

baltimore has a bit more stable situation. beautiful ballpark tailor-made for delgado's swing. they've got a nicely stacked lineup to plug him in, too. he won't be switching leagues or divisions which is kinda nice in a familiar sense. then again, he'll probably spend the rest of his career doing the same thing he's already been doing: staring up at boston and the yankees in the standings.

so where does this leave the mets? well, we're going to see how well minayacal omar's magical hispanicism spell really works. it's one thing to keep "convincing" players to sign here by giving the best contract. it's another thing to sign someone with not the best contract. pay-dro and beltran have been recruiting delgado, but how much does that mean? so, we wait.

mamas, raise your boys to be lefthanded relievers.

roger clemens must be clairvoyant. no sooner did he yap about how houston can get another guy to replace beltran and step it up than the astros sign johnny franco. wow, $700k for the lefty methuselah. nobody lives a better life than johnny. lucky sucky bastard. that extra dinero should come in handy should pay for good legal representation, if the need arises.